Thai Advertising Milestone
In Thailand, the first advertisement was broadcast in the Bangkok Recorder newspaper, Vol. 11, Volume 1, 1865. It was an advertisement for Dr.D.B. Bradley’s book and publishing business, which described products and services in detail. Compared with today’s advertising media, it could be seen that the first advertisement in Thailand simply used letters and words in everyday life to describe the story.Later, HRH Krom Phra Kamphaeng tried to apply the advertisement on British railway business to Siam Railway Organization and other businesses. They became so successful that the first two advertising company, Siam Advertising and Nai Lert Company, were established and launched the advertising business officially. After that, the styles of advertisements were developed and modernized. Unfortunately, the arrival of Word War II in Thailand (1939-1947) disrupted the advertising business, but they became recovered again soon after the war ended
Groarke Advertising Co., Ltd. was recognized as the first local advertising company, followed by Grant Advertising Co., Ltd. from America, and Cathay Advertising Co., Ltd, which was later renamed later in (1953) as Ted Bates Thailand Co., Ltd. However, 50-year dated back, it was accepted that the media which truly had an important role to precipitate the advertising business is the occurrence of television. At that period, television was a new thing in many western countries, but not in Thailand. There was only a small group of the officer from the Public Relation Department, who realized the essential of the television, making their effort together to convince the government by writing articles and doing speeches on the advantages of having a television broadcasting business. Their goal was achieved when the government became interested, and asked PEY Company to present the trial television broadcasting to Former Prime Minister Plaek Phibun Songkhram on July 14,1952. He was impressed by the convenience and promptness of distributing news and information to the audience. On June 24, 1955, the first Thai Television company was established by the government for broadcasting in the name of Channel 4 Bang Khun Phrom (which later became Channel 9). Since then, the progress of the advertising business in Thailand has been increasing according to the development of television broadcasting.
The Appearance of Thai Advertisement in Thailand
Previously in Thailand, advertisements were divided into two types: print media such as newspapers, magazines, flyers, brochures, posters using text as a medium, and advertising media for broadcasting using sound, images or text, which were presented on radio and television. Now, there are 2 more types, namely online advertising media, which are both images and animation, and other types of advertising media, which are presented in various electronic devices connected by the internet, social media, and billboard signs or digital LED screens in public places.
The presentation of ads in Thailand is divided into 3 eras: Information-Based era, Art direction era, and Brand idea era. Art director era is the highest point of Thai advertising between 1957 – 2000. Most of the advertisements were presented on radio and television. The success of the advertisements was able to be measured by the variety of product content presented. It’s not a sale or a direct explanation anymore, but it had a storyline, like a storyboard. Some commercials are drama-like, and some have re-composed music to become catchy. The popularity of advertising in broadcasting media began to decrease with the advent of digital TV and cable TV systems that are not advertised but are often offered as TV home-shopping. As well as on the radio, the coming of music streaming platforms such as YouTube, Joox, or Spotify, make many audiences not interested in turning on the radio, or lining up in front of the CD’s shop anymore. They can find a new song as soon as it is launched.
The Presence of advertisement in Social Media
Today’s popular social media in Thailand are Facebook, Messenger, Youtube, Line, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. The first social media to be launched was Facebook, which was started in 2004, used to communicate and engage in one or more activities with users. People can ask questions about their interests, post pictures, post video clips, write articles or blogs, chat live, play group games which are very popular. Followed by Messenger, which was launched in 2005. Its purpose was to send messages between each other or a group of people on the same network. Later, Twitter was launched in 2006 as a microblogging social networking service. Users can now send messages up to 280 characters, which they are doing by calling this message a “tweet”. Instagram later launched an event in 2010. Users can upload photos or videos they want to share with their friends. Later, the LINE application for communication that is very popular in our home that was launched in 2011. People will be able to communicate via chat. It can also send text messages, pictures, stickers, audio and video. They can chat in either 1-on-1 format or as a group chat. YouTube was launched in Thailand in 2014 as a website that offers free video exchange services between users. By using the technology of Adobe Flash Player used to display video images, users can view videos and upload videos via Youtube for free. You can also share the video with others, but if you are not a member, you can access the video that other users have put on Youtube, but cannot be the uploader. A recent but very popular launch is TikTok, launched in Thailand in 2018. It is an application that is very popular among teenagers around the world. Users can create short video content up to 15 seconds long, such as showcasing skills or choreography, jokes, lip sync, etc.
As social network and applications become more popular than radio, television and print media, product and service offerings begin to appear on social media because people are on mobile phones and the internet all the time. The variety of advertisements in broadcasting media starts to decline. In the beginning, product advertisements will be in the Facebook application because Facebook used to be the application with the most users. However, nowadays, almost every social media channel has all advertisements, which can be categorized as follows:
- Facebook ads is a popular channel that many people are familiar with because they are most easily accessible from mass apps like Facebook, and are known to be the most haunting advertisements as well.
– Instagram ads, in the aspect of sponsors based on IG story or IG post, become a part of this application. That’s how Instagram makes money. Currently, Instagram is adding features like Instagram Reels, which is a short VDO media type (similar to Tik Tok), so we may see advertisements from this type of feature as well.
– Line ads in the form of opening Line official accounts, making line broadcasts and advertising through Line today, including online sales through Line My shop as well.
-Twitter ads are direct sales tweets with a hashtag (#) for people to remember, which is the fastest way to catch market trends.
– Youtube ads VIDEO Platform, the largest online world with the popularity, makes VDO advertisements being used in this platform a lot, with both skippable and forcing users to watch until the end.
-Tiktok ads, another platform that is hot in this era. It is a VDO advertisement that will insert itself while you open the app.
The Advantages of Social Media Advertising
From the variety of advertisements on various social media platforms, what all advertisements have in common is conciseness, easy to understand, straightforward communication, resulting in many advantages in selling products and services. The advantage of using social networks for advertising is that it can reach a large audience and increase commercial opportunities. In addition, investment in economical new media makes good prices because advertising costs are at a low cost. When compared with advertising on TV, we can measure the response received by the numbers of audiences. Also, even though we have closed the storefront, our advertisement can still run online all the time. No matter where you are in the world, customers are able to see and view your store’s advertisement. In addition, you can get your target audience remotely even if you are anywhere in the world. Your customers will be able to see your products and you can still sell your products without relying solely on your storefront. Finally, there is a channel for customers who are interested in the product and want to inquire. You can always ask questions when in doubt, which increases customer confidence. From These advantages, brands rely on online advertising on social media because online users are increasing every year. Online advertising helps brands achieve their goals, which makes it a lot easier for brands to do marketing. At the same time, online advertising can be measured across all periods, unlike broadcasting media that can only reach customers during TV or radio showtime. As one might guess, advertising in broadcasting media could soon be completely replaced by social media advertisement.